Justice League: Warzone
by Einherjar1-14cav
Summary: Someone new drops into the JLU reality, and the criminals, metahuman to mere mugger will feel pain and fear like never before, they will be punished. The Justice League will also have to deal with this newcomer and his methods.
1. Intro

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that DC or Marvel came up with first.

A/N: ( )These are Castles thoughts . Also, review but don't be a dick.

**Justice League: War zone**

Ch. 1-Intro

In a dark alley, in a shitty part of the big apple an over weight man flees, trips and bumbles his way through an alley, tripping over garbage cans, trash, and bums.

"Fuckin' bum get outta my way" the fat man screams.

"Fuck off" the bum replies.

Finally the source of the fat mans flight is revealed in the form of a loud controlled pair, center mass. The man crashes into a trash heap, bleeding, but not dead, yet.

"Sucking chest wounds can be nasty, cant they Mike, can you feel your lung collapsing, your chest cavity filling with air, crushing your lungs and heart"

(I just need some confirmation from this scum and I can move on to bigger and better things)

"Fuck ...gasp... you ...gasp... Castle ...gasp..."

(They all try to sound brave at first)

"Mike I need you confirm something I heard about the other day"

"Yeah ...gasp... whats ...gasp... that ...gasp..."

"I heard that you were laundering money for the Brighton beach crowd and that your records and their money is at an apartment in Westbury"

(Now comes about five minutes of annoying banter before this piece of shit tells me what I need to know)

"Look scum I don't have all night for a lot of cliché banter so we gotta accelerate things a bit, now I'm…

Suddenly there was a bright white flash around them, every muscle in Castles body seized and Mike Costa perished when Castle inadvertently pulled the trigger.

(White light, shit, am I dead, Fuck, Mike's brains are all over me now, funny thing to think about when you die)

Then it all goes faint, and the white light gets whiter and brighter.

(Maria…….)

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(Its all black now, I gotta move, gotta avoid the cops, can't go to prison, gotta keep moving)

Castle struggles to move, to get up, but falls, and starts throwing up

(Nope, not getting up, shit, I'm going to pass out again)

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(Awake, how much time has past, my watch is broken, well its night so either only a little time has past or a day has past and someone would have noticed Mike and I if it had been that long, at least I can move now, I need to get away from Mike, regroup, figure out what happened, prep for my next move)

With that castle staggered to his feet, placing his hand on some aluminum siding.

(Wait, aluminum siding, what happened to the alley, it was brick a second ago, or an hour ago, or however long ago)

Castle surveys his surroundings, he is in a construction lot, looks like a future parking garage, picking up his .45 and placing it in its holster Castle moves away tactically, scanning the environment.

(What the fuck is going on, who owns this place, Fish construction; coming soon: Wayne Enterprises Parking Garage E, never heard of Wayne Enterprise, I gotta get outta here, orient myself…)

Beyond the fence a women screams.

"Shut up and gimme your purse bitch" some guy in a purple hoodie demands.

"Ahhhh, help! Please help! Someone" the 20 something girl yells into the night

"Damnit I warned you bitch" the mugger raises his fist ready to strike, the girl just stands there like a deer in the headlights.

"What the fuck!" the mugger yells as he feels his arm caught in someone else's grip, and then he hears a snap.

"Ahhhhhh!" the mugger screams, but it doesn't last long as the mysterious assailant takes out a knife and sticks it through the back of his neck, severing his spinal cord, killing him instantly, he falls like a sack of potatoes.

"Huh" the woman finally reacts to the event in time to see a big man in a trench coat with a shirt that has a huge skull on it bring her mugger down.

"Thank you, I don't recognize your costume, are you with the league?" she asks curiously.

(Wow she is handling this situation really well, what the fuck is the league?)

"What league?"

"Uh, the Justice League, duh" she gawks as if Castle is retarded.

(I gotta move out, get oriented, cops should come eventually, two corpses, should get some attention, what the hell is she talking about)

"I have to go, and I don't know what league you're talking about, besides I don't do justice, only Punishment" Castles walks off, leaving the girl.

"Fuck dude, you have worse people skills then Batman" she yells at a retreating Castle.

She looks closer at the mugger, and screams "Holy shit he's dead!"

Castle is already a block away, but suddenly looks up at a street light that has one of those touristy flags that shows a towns name and whatever sounds good to tourists and locals.

("Gotham City, founded 1635, see the heritage, see the wonder"; what the FUCK is going on?)

A/N: The punisher comes from the ultimate continuity, except he is the Max punisher.

Next: Not in Kansas Anymore


	2. Not in Kansas anymore

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel or DC came up with first

A/N: I will probably get some continuity stuff wrong, tell me about.

**Justice League: War zone**

Ch.2- Not in Kansas anymore

(Where am I, this is getting way to weird for me, Gotham City, what the hell…)

Castle walks down the sidewalk of a metropolis, looks like some run of the mill neighborhood easily found in any big city, looked like New York, Boston, Chicago, and…apparently Gotham.

(I need some information, I need to find out where I am…This will work)

Castle finds a phone booth, steps in and reaches for the phone book, flipping through the yellow pages, finally stops at L.

(Here we go Gotham City Library, main branch, should have the information I need, just hope I don't have to sign up for a library card, now lets see, across the street from the "Wayne Botanical Garden", great about sixty blocks of walking, but its not close to any law enforcement, wow alotta shit named after Wayne )

With that castle rips a city map out of the phone book steps out of the phone booth and begins his Hike to the library.

(Man, this place seems a lot like New York, down to the smell and run down look, but with some cosmetic make over, trying to hide the rot of the city, the deep down decay that marks every major metropolis, I can sense the scum in this city, I know that they are just lurking in the dawn, hiding until the…what the hell is that)

Suddenly the sound of a vehicle accelerating over a hill with police sirens close behind interrupted Castle's quiet walk. The source of the commotion revealed itself in the form of purple '50s style convertible, in that vehicle were four people. One in the driver's seat was a woman in a court jester's outfit, the passenger seat was filled by a man with white makeup and a purple tux, and he was throwing dolls; that must have been filled with grenades since they exploded with ground contact. In the back were a couple of guys in old jackets, shooting at the approaching cops with AK's.

(What the Fuck, that has got to be the gayest car I have ever seen, shit, innocent people will get hurt with that jackass rolling around like that, I'm gonna have to take him out, and all I got is a .45 and three magazines, fuck this is gonna suck; why am I so calm, this is way to weird)

Castle begins to move toward the street about to draw his weapon when something hits the driver causing it to crash into a fire hydrant, and soon after someone in a black cape swoops down and starts beating the crap out of everyone, knocking them unconscious. The cops show up and begin to detain the four.

(Those are some incompetent criminals, whatever less for me to deal with, I am going to just get to that library and find out what the hell is going on, this is getting way to weird for me, and I am taking this way to well)

Gotham Library: Main Branch

(Here at last, now I can get some details on my situation and figure this all out, I am taking this way to well)

Castle goes up the steps into the library and walks back to the computer lab, and looks for an open computer, finding one in a back corner and sets about his work.

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Six and a half hours later Castle leans back in his chair and stares at the screen blankly.

(Holy fucking shit, I am in a completely different reality, is this shit possible, I mean…what the fuck. I am taking this way to well. No New York City, no Ultimates, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, or mutants, granted a shit ton of "metahumans" but still, holy shit I am in a different reality, the "Justice League" seems to protect the planet from all sorts of crazy shit, fought a war with a rogue section of government, aliens, super criminals, and extra-dimensional creatures. It would also appear that I'm not the first one to pop in from the space-time continuum; we got Booster Gold, Dr. Fate, and other weird ass people. But the scum still prosper and the innocent are still suffering. That jackass in the purple tux and his crew have caused enough problems, and they keep getting back on the streets, scum like that gotta die. I am taking this shit way to well, even if shit like this has happened before doesn't mean I should be taking this so well. Only one more thing left to search.)

Castle began to type in the words: Castle family, Park, mob.

Castle began reading the articles that popped up, ad he froze when he got to a particular sentence.

"…Entire family slain in gangland shooting at a Metropolis Park, Frank Castle, 26, Maria Castle, 25, Frank Jr., 7, and Lisa Castle 5…"

(Even here they died…even in another fucking reality they died)

Castle throws the keyboard against the wall, in a brief, but intense moment of sorrow and anger. The rage subsides as Castle picks up the keyboard and calmly sits back down, ignoring the gawking stares of the people in the library.

(Seems that I died here as well, at least I died with my family in this reality, this castle was spared the pain. But it's the scum here that will soon feel the pain, there is still a war to fight, still scum to die.)

Next: Different universe, same war.


	3. Different Universe, Same War

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel or DC came up with first

Justice League: Warzone

Ch. 3: Different universe, same war

Metropolis

(A quick ride to Metropolis for a quick but important objective, then I can start the war here, I can't start the war without doing this first, I just can't.)

Castle steps off the Greyhound Bus and makes his way to his destination on foot, not far, maybe a quarter mile from the bus stop.

(Don Tony Costa, kingpin of the great, or formally great, Costa crime family, the scum responsible for my family's death, on a sunny day in the park Tony Costa was busy killing off some rivals when we walked in on them, Don Costa couldn't have any witness' so he opened up on us. In my reality Frank Castle became the Punisher on that sunny day in the park. Where I am now, Frank Castle died, physically, with his Family. I killed Tony Costa almost thirty years ago; Tony Costa lived here, once a kingpin of the Metropolis underworld, now thanks to Intergang and a bunch of superheroes and villains, Don Tony Costa is an old man in a retirement home.)

Castle sneaks into the back of the "Golden Years Metropolis Home" no real security here, after getting inside Castle heads up stairs to the corner one man room, the only thing his influence could provide him in his waning years.

"Huh, wha…whose there, whose there" an old man wakes up startled in a black room reaching for his thick glasses to aid him in his search for the intruder.

"If its one of you thieving orderlies I swear to god I will fucking shank your fagoty ass" Costa starts screaming into the dark room.

"Relax Don Costa, I am not here to steal anything from you" a voice says from the darkness.

"I haven't been called that in a long time, not since before all these super weirdoes took over the game, and kicked me out into the cold, to die here."

"Do you remember killing my family in the park on that warm sunny day about thirty years ago, we were caught in a cross fire between you and some other scum" the voice asks in a voice that could chill hell.

"What do you want from me man I'm an old fart without any dignity, just let me alone" Costa rages.

"You killed them Costa and now you're going to pay." The voice says calmly.

Suddenly there is movement; all Costa can see is a dark figure with a white skull in the center approach his bed slowly, more movement and then a loud bang and Don Antonio Costa perished. Nurses and orderlies came running in, too late to catch the assailant who had already escaped.

Gotham City

(Back in Gotham, now I can start the war, I am still taking this way to well)

Castle walks down the streets of Gotham, blending in with the crowd heading for his first objective, a run down bar across the street from the crack house Castle is going to clear out.

(Now all I gotta do is a quick recon of this crack house over the night and I can hit it tomorrow, get some cash and some more weapons, a good start.)

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(Three a.m. and the crack house is in full swing, I count about forty crack heads who have come in the building, only five have left since nine p.m., during the day I have seen enough activity to suggest about fifty people who live there, and I can probably add another twenty to that for people who are just drugged out to immobility. So about 110 crack heads, dealers, and assorted other peoples. Probably a quarter of them armed, high, and not fond of vigilantes. I should be able to get the cash, guns, and ammo I need to start up the war from here, maybe an hour inside, kill all the scum get out and start setting up active operations. Alright I have seen enough, time to get back to the motel, rest and prep for the attack.)

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(Two thirty, time to hit the crack house.)

Castle advances to the crack house going through the rear entrance; he has two ten gallon bags, a K-bar, and his .45 with three magazines. He sneaks up and takes down the single man standing at the back door, tripping him and following up with a knee to the face. Castle takes the guards glock and puts it in one of the bags. Castle proceeds to through the back door.

(This will be easy, just like any regular crack house, just need to clear every room and take down the twenty something enforcers, get out and go back to my motel, First some information.)

Castle goes into a room, finds a couple of strung out druggies on floor, watching TV, the TV is broken.

"Hey druggie I got a couple of questions" Castle says to the druggie closest to sentience of the two.

"Whaaat" he looks to the other druggie "Dude, do you see that skull guy floating there"

Castle grabs the guy by the collar "hey punk, who runs this shit hole."

"This dude named Ramone, kindof a douche, chargin…too much……" he trails off into space.

"Get some rehab" Castle releases him and walks out the room, searching for some more guns, money, and drug dealers to kill.

(Figures I didn't get any information from them, druggies seem to be as useless in this reality as they are in mine. I am still taking this whole thing way to well.)

Forty-five minutes and three floors later, Castle was almost done, moving to the staircase, he had one more floor to go.

(One more floor left, this is where it could get hairy, I have taken out eleven people in this entire building, and two of them weren't dealers or enforcers, a couple pieces of shit raping some drugged out girl. Now I can us firearms, no reason to play it stealthy anymore, at least I have a twelve gauge now, should make taking down this last group easier.)

Castle, with shotgun up and ready heads up the staircase; the door suddenly swings open and someone stumbles out, in a drunken stupor, pistol drawn, not noticing Castle until it was far too late, Castle's Remington 12 gauge blows him in half. Castle then sprints past the corpse bursting into the smoke filled, bass dominated floor, and the five or so shocked dealers counting cash, organizing and weighing drugs didn't have a chance to draw their weapons before Castle cut through them with the shotgun. He stops before the hallway to reload.

(This kind of operation always starts easy, scum used to drive-by's, hits, and intimidation are always caught in a state of shock, like deer in the headlights they are slow to react. The trick is to take most of 'em down before they can organize and set up in a stronghold, which would be a bitch to take out, probably couldn't get it done before the cops arrived either. Thirty seconds since I started firing, someone will probably call the cops in the next five minutes, unless some narc unit was watching the place, if so, I'm fucked.)

Castle spots another seven enforcers going down the hall investigating the gunfire, weapons drawn, but not up, they are all within a foot of each other.

(If only I had a grenade, oh well can't have everything.)

Castle then peeks the barrel of the shotgun into the hallway and opens fire on the advancing enforcers, unprepared for the holocaust of buckshot that washed over them; the only shots they fired were into the ceiling, only a reflex that signaled their deaths.

(Music stopped, the rest know something is up, I can already here them moving up and down the hall, going to their leader, rallying to him, I have to end this now. No time to reload the 12 gauge, Mac 10 and my .45 will have to do.)

Castle sets down his bags and shotgun then whips around the corner ready with the Ingram made automatic. Running and shooting down the hall, taking down dealers and enforcers as they come up, most don't get a chance to shoot back. Castle reaches the end of the hall, right next to the last room in the attic level apartment.

(One more room to go, cant be more than six in there, granted they are all armed and waiting for me, I'm also out of ammo for the Ingram, that means my .45 will have to finish the fight, I have 8 rounds and no time to reload once I'm in there, maybe if I take Ramone out…)

"Wow wee, the league is taking out local drug rings now, man not enough super villains or aliens to keep you busy, you gotta fuck with small business, Batman and his "family" are the only ones that fuck with us, and they don't use guns. So HE-ro why the interest all of the sudden."

(Must be Ramone, I am gonna end this now.)

"Okay Ramone let me tell you whats what and why the league is interested"

"This'll be good, can't wait for…"

Castle bursts into the room, killing the one talking and taking advantage of the enemy's shock takes down two more before diving behind a couch to the side of the room, they all start shooting at where the gunfire started where they expected their enemy to be, the doorway, not the side of the room. After a second Castle reemerges from behind the couch and opens fire from his targets blind spot, he takes them all down in less then ten seconds. After changing out magazines Castle advances on the heap of fallen dealers, only two are alive, one is Ramone.

"Well Ramone aren't you the lucky one, I must have barely missed your heart."

Between blood splattered breaths Ramone speaks did the league…cough…start…cough…killin…cough."

"Ramone, I'm not in "the league." Castle retorts before shooting Ramone in the head.

Castle then begins, quickly, to collect all the guns, ammo, and cash that he can and then shove them into his two bags. Sirens can be heard approaching from the background.

(Time to go, I have a nice four mile walk ahead of me to the motel, after tonight I should be able to upgrade to something more private and better suited to my needs, can't stash weapons and cash with a friggn' turnover service snooping around, they probably stole all my spare change, bastards. I am still way to calm about this whole alternate universe thing, no way I'm that well adjusted.)

Castle then steps out the back of the crack house, away from the approaching sirens and toward his motel.

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"Holy fuck, what happened here Montoya?" a large heavy set man in a ruffled shirt and trench coat, coffee stains cover both said as he stepped into the blood stained crime scene.

"Morning Harvey, turf war I suppose, Ramone, the local crack "king", and all of his subordinates are dead, save four, three will probably die in the next couple hours, the other one should be able to speak to us in a day or so, lost a lot of blood but his fat friend who died on top of him kept enough pressure to stop him from bleeding out." An attractive Latina in dress pants and black turtleneck replied. "The only thing I don't get is that all the drugs were left, and only the cash and guns were taken…"

"Sounds like a robbery to me but…" Detective Harvey Bullock interrupted

"All the drugs were left behind, something anyone capable of producing all this carnage and taking all this carnage and weapons would definitely want to get there hands on half a million worth of narcotics." Someone said from the dark.

"What the hell…Christ Batman, why do you always sneak up on us like that?" Bullock inquires, angrily.

"It's my thing." Batman replies

"Well hello Batman, what do you make of this?" Montoya speaks in

"I have a couple of theories." Batman replies in a non-chalant manner.

"Care to enlighten us." Bullock is flippant.

"One. This could be a blind, an attempt to conceal something else, much like a murderer who takes the wallet of a victim to make it seem like a mugging. Two. This one is far more farfetched but it could be some black ops thing; that is more the Questions kinda thing but still a possibility. Three. A vigilante could be responsible; he would need guns and money, but no need for drugs. I am more inclined to go with theory one because with the league there is a place for people who wish to fight crime, outside the traditional avenues of course."

"This could be some sort of psycho in a cape, if you went further beyond the edge then you or your cape and cowl friends have." Bullock's antipathy is transparent.

"I took that into consideration; generally a hyper-violent vigilante that is capable of this kind of carnage will suffer a catalyst that sets him off, and to prevent these kinds of things I keep myself apprised of any thing that may cause this kind of action." Batman answers with near mechanical coolness and no visible signs of irritation at Detective Bullock's tone or comment.

"Yeah whatever Batman" Bullock is dismissive.

"What do you plan on doing Batman?" Detective Montoya is inquisitive contrasting to her partner's cynicism.

"I will need some copies of your files on this so I can go over the evidence more thoroughly; I also sent Batgirl and Nightwing out to search for the assailants trail." Batman concluded as he headed for the window. "I will be in touch detectives." And then he was gone.

"God that annoys me" Bullock near growled.

Next: What's with the tights?


	4. Whats with the Tights

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel or DC came up with first

**Justice League: Warzone**

Ch. 4: What's with the tights?

Gotham City

Dawn in Gotham city, few people are on the streets yet, only a couple of people heading to work early, a few kids, obviously inebriated, are trailing back home. Some are coming off of a job; Frank Castle is among them.

( Almost back to the motel, today I will go look for a more permanent safe house, but first some sleep, I don't know what it is but I feel my age helluva lot more this early in the morning. I still am taking this way to well, I mean I know shit like the x-men and all that kinda crap went on but I was never that involved with the whole "super-whatever" crowd, not like I am exposed to this kind of thing often so why am I so comfortable with it, maybe its Gotham, it is a lot like New York so…)

Castle stops dead in his tracks, drops the two bags, spins around, reaching for his gun but he is too late as something hits him in the head, fazing him momentarily, Castle has enough presence of mind sharpened by decades of combat to shield him from the following kick to the face.

(Fuck this one is quick…still blurry…focus…keep moving…)

Castle dives out of the way of the next blow, and the next, and the next, Castle is evading with tempered skill learned only through experience. His assailant is getting frustrated, too eager; the blows are becoming hurried and sloppy.

(Okay time to figure out what's going on; whoa, spin kick, he's good in martial arts that's for sure, but young as hell…is he wearing tights…holy shit)

Castle's assailant throws a punch to the face, Castle dodges, grabs his arm and twists it while simultaneously tripping his attacker, bringing him to the ground Castle doesn't hesitate and starts pounding his attackers face with his elbows while keeping the attacker on the ground, soon Castle's attacker stops resisting and falls unconscious.

(He's out, now I can figure this out. Let's see black tights with a blue bird-ish thing on the chest, and a mask thing, how the hell does that thing stay on? So this must be Nightwing.)

Castle drags Nightwing deep into an alley then hog ties him with some zip ties removes his mask and takes a picture with his disposable camera.

(This could be useful in the future.)

Castle then proceeds to wake Nightwing up with some smelling salts he happened to have on him. Nightwing started coughing and slowly came to consciousness.

"Ahhh…what the hell..." Nightwing grumbled.

Castle kneeled next to Nightwing, weapon drawn pointed to the sky. "Morning sunshine, I have a few questions for you, namely why the fuck you attacked me, also, what's with the gay uniform, tights, come on."

"I was chasing you down because you murdered twenty-something people and as for the…"

"It was just a bunch of scum that deserved to die; I really am not in the mood to argue with another do-gooder in tights, I have a war to start; now I am going to leave. Here is some parting advice; stay out of my goddamned way." Castle was cold and to the point, then he got up and left pausing only to holster his pistol and pick up his bags before moving on.

"Hey wait who are you…" Nightwing yelled at the withdrawing Castle.

"Call me the Punisher" Castle replied, not even looking back.

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(I wonder how he figured it was me, probably should have asked him, but I had to keep moving, Nightwing works with Batman and Batgirl, probably wasn't alone; information wouldn't be worth the risk of getting in a fight with the local caped crime fighters at this time. I need to hurry up and get back though so I can start moving my operation to somewhere more secure, granted if I decided to run the last mile all I would do is attract attention, and that's the last thing I need. Since Nightwing managed to find me I will have to adjust my plans, when I get back to the motel I will clean my pistol and head for my new temporary safe house, condemned building I spotted the other day should do until I can set up something more permanent.)

"Wow, what happened to you?" A female voice said from behind a struggling Nightwing.

"A little trouble with the murderer we are chasing. Just going to stand there or are you going to help me out." Nightwing replied, trying to conceal his embarrassment.

"Yeah, yeah. He sure tied you up good didn't he? Do we know who he is and why he did it?" Batgirl asked as she knelt down to cut the zip ties.

"He said he was the Punisher…"

"The Punisher, that's kind of lame" Batgirl interrupted

Nightwing continued "…Yeah well he means business, he said something about how he has a war to start, said that the people he killed deserved it, he is dangerous and…"

"He beat the shit out of you" Batgirl finished for him, though Nightwing's expression showed that he was going to say something else, but he decided not to say anything as Batgirl helped him up.

"So what do you think we should do next" Nightwing asked while brushing himself off.

"I doubt we will catch him now, we should head back to the cave and tell Batman what we know and figure out our next move." Batgirl answered. "How did you know he was the right man?" she asked.

"Got lucky I guess" Nightwing replied as they made their way back to the Bat-cave.

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Castle's Safehouse

On the other side of town the Punisher enters a condemned auto shop, setting his bags down he draws his weapon and begins clearing the small one time auto shop.

(This place definitely was condemned for a reason, at least no one is here, granted the fact that not even homeless would choose to live here doesn't say a lot for the place. But with some work it will be a good base of operations, maybe I wont need to find a different safe house, I will need a lot of gear though, tools, generators, lights, and a few other things.)

The auto shop is composed of a garage, capable of tending to three cars at a time, three small offices, what must have been a break room, two bathrooms, several closets, nothing of value, all of it taken away long ago. But there is a basement, and that basement serves Castle's interests perfectly, perfect for storage, maintenance, defense, and the entrance is hidden behind a wall, no one can see the entrance from the outside. Castle makes his way downstairs to see what there is. It is dark, pitch black save for a small window at the other end, Castle takes out his LED flashlight and begins to look around, a few rats are seen, and the space is big, maybe forty feet by thirty feet nothing else though, just a big empty space.

(This will work very well indeed, but first to count the cash and organize the weapons I got from the crack house I hit. Then I can go buy some supplies and set this place up.)

Castle then walked back upstairs to start counting the money and weapons.

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Gotham City Hospital

Detectives Montoya and Bullock walked into a guarded hospital at the end of the hallway, inside was the standard hospital furnishings, IV's, tubes, monitors, and uneaten Jell-O. Hooked up to the various tubes and screens was a short skinny and unshaven man, to say that he looked ill was a massive understatement, he also looked dreadfully scared, but he was alive, conscious, and able to speak, which is the reason for the two detective's.

"Well you are looking better Karl." Detective Montoya began.

"Yeah, you must be lovin' all these tax payer funded comforts" Bullock interjected.

"Lawyer…I wanna…cough, cough…Lawyer" Karl barely got out; his voice had an edge of fear in it.

"Legal Aid is on its way as we…" Montoya began, but she was interrupted by the bumbling commotion of a short, young, disheveled, and hurried man carrying a briefcase with pieces of paper spilling out of the sides, and another stack in his arm, with a trail of papers spilling behind him.

"I'm John Mycroft, legal aid." He said in a high pitched squeaky voice, reaching out his hand to the detectives but in the process dropped all his legal papers. "Damn." Mycroft muttered to himself. He continued to speak, "I am here to represent Mr. Karl Hegg."

"Okay Mr. Mycroft, we are investigating a multiple homicide, twenty-three to be exact, and…" Montoya began.

"Excuse me!" Mycroft exclaimed as he went pale.

"Don't worry Mr. Mycroft, he is the victim here." Bullock explained.

"Thank God." All the color returned to Mycroft's face.

"However there is the matter of the drugs we found on your client, something we will disregard if your client plays ball and tells us what went down." Montoya continued.

"Play ball Karl, play ball." Mycroft told his client.

"You…suck…dude." Karl told his lawyer with that same glint of fear. He turned to address the two detectives.

"Okay…This is how…it went down." Karl started hacking up before he began his story. "It was a normal night, partying…collecting…I was chilling out, it was a good night…I was with in…the same room as Ramone, doin' a line when…we heard a gunshot, I didn't think that much of it at first, shit…happens y'know, but then we heard more and then more, and people…were screaming an' shit, it was nuts, more…gunfire, then it all stopped…and the boss was talkin' the…dude, tryin' to figure out why the league was getting' involved…'cause only league…members coulda…messed us up that much. So he was talkin' to the guy he…said he was gonna…tell us all about the league's involvement…then he flew in shot us all…up and I blacked out and…woke up here." He concluded sounding more afraid then ever, and then started coughing even more.

"Wow, that's quite a story, you got a description?" Bullock asked.

"Man it was some crazy…shit, his voice scared me shitless, but…I didn't get a good look, thank…god, just a lot of black, and a big…white…skull, that's all…I seen of him man. I thought Batman was scary, but…this was…something else." He finished, turning over, wrought with fear.

The two detectives looked at each other, before Montoya spoke to the attorney. "We will be in touch Mr. Mycroft, we will be in touch." She finished as the pair left the room.

Once outside the hospital and on the way to their car the two began to talk again. "Man, scarier then the bat, that's messed up, what do you make of this Montoya?"

"I don't know Harvey, but it's messed up and I don't think we've heard the last of this guy" She answered back.

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Bat Cave

It was mid morning by the time Batgirl and Nightwing made it back to the bat cave. Once they walked into the main part of the cave the two were greeted by a tall, thin, aging man that spoke with an English accent. "Welcome back, Master Bruce is at the computer, shall I bring something for either of you to drink?"

"Water please Alfred." Batgirl responded taking her cowl off and heading up to the computer.

"Same here Alfred." Spoke Nightwing.

"I will have them for you in a minute." Alfred said while heading for the elevator.

A minute later the "bat" family was gathered around the main computer.

"What happened?" Batman's voice was filled with, not anger, but a cool analytical voice.

Nightwing started the report. "I was scoping out the streets south of the crack house while Batgirl checked out the streets to the north. After about an hour since we got word of the crime I spotted a big guy in a black trench coat with a big white skull on the front, walking down the street, he didn't look right, looked less like an early commuter or party straggler and more like a soldier on a combat patrol. Then I got a good look at him with my NODs and I saw a weapon in a holster on his belt. After seeing this I decided to move in on him." His voice became a bit smaller and more defensive. "After a quick fight he managed to knock me unconscious and hog tie me with some zip ties, one thing for sure is that he is a very good fighter, maybe better than you Batman." Batman glanced at him. "I said maybe Batman, but he is definitely our guy, called himself the punisher, sounded like some vigilante, talked about a war and told me that we should stay out of his way." Nightwing concluded.

Batgirl looked up and began. "I didn't see anything on my search, maybe I will have better luck against him than you did, next time, Dick." She emphasized Dick with a sarcastic inflexion.

"Nightwing, I am bringing Huntress in from the league to help out with this Punisher…" Batman began.

Nightwing interrupted "Huntress! I thought she got canned from the league, and doesn't she tend to lean towards this kind of vigilantism, and why just me, what are you two doing in the meantime?"

Batman looked at Nightwing in his typical cold veneer and explained to his former ward. "I am bringing Huntress in for two reasons; first, since she leans towards the extreme she will be better able to get inside this guy's head then us, second Batgirl and I will be busy dealing with the Joker."

"Joker escaped, already, it seems like he breaks out every week." Batgirl exclaimed.

"Well now that we have the situation, time to get down to details." Batman began pulling up ballistics reports, witness statements, video footage, and various forensic reports and began his detailed brief.

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Castle's Safehouse

Later that night and across town Frank Castle finished setting up his new basement safe house. The formerly empty room was now crowded with work tables, weapon racks, generators, lights, a couple of exercise machines, a cot, and some crates filled with several types of chemicals. In his armory Castle now had 7 glock 9mm pistols, 2 12 gauge Remingtons, 4 Mac 10s, 2 .45s, 3 .38 magnum revolvers, 1 .50 cal Desert Eagle, and a civilian M-4 with iron sights. Castle also managed to purchase the ammunition for them from department and sporting goods stores across the city, altogether he had about 500 9mm rounds, 150 .45 rounds, 75 .50 cal rounds, 100 .38 rounds, 750 5.56 rounds, and 300 shotgun shells.

(Altogether this is a good start, granted with the exception of the .45 I brought with me all of these weapons are in the shittiest shape, it is going to take me at least the better part of a week to get all of these weapons in proper shape. This place is also working out pretty well, no attention and I have everything I need, I should be able to start the war by the end of this week, and if the papers are any indication I have my first target.)

Castle set down his M-4 bolt and moved over to his dry erase board that will soon contain all his current objectives and criminal org. charts. He picked up the paper and re-read the headline: Joker breaks out, goes on rampage.

(Huh, this clown pushed me back to page C6; well I'll give this scum a better headline, one that will really drive fear deep into this cities underworld.)

Next: Not so funny anymore (pt.1)


End file.
